thanksgiving in idaho

we braved the scary road conditions and drove up to the panhandle of Idaho to visit Brian's parents and brother and his wife. Brian did an awesome job driving our van and even though he was tempted to turn around in Idaho Falls and head back home, the kids outnumbered him and we continued on. We made it without any issues.

Aunt Monica and Uncle JB weren't there for the first couple of days but Aunt Monica had plenty of toys to preoccupy the kiddos.
In the offices (connected to their living area), there was a giant rocking chair that the kids enjoyed rocking on.

Thanksgiving day, we had some entertaining to do so we played Follow the Leader, obstacle courses, played on the pinball machine, hide and go seek etc...

The kids were brave and went outside in the frigid temps.

Apparently Jackson had just been hit in the face by a snowball in this picture!

The day after Thanksgiving, Bri and I took the kids into Couer'd'Alane for a visit. We went to an awesome restaurant called Tomato Place. Upon sitting down, the waitress stamped the kids menu on the butcher paper, then handed each child a baggy of playdo, crayons, and string and pasta to make necklaces. It was the best lunch - the kids were entertained and the food was delicioso! We then took them over to a toystore called Figpickles. We gave them each $10 to pick out some toys. It was a hands on store too which was really fun!

Carli had just taken a suck of a lemon. Love that face!

The next day, Gail, Brian, and I took the kids to Post Falls to see a movie. We saw Megamind. When we got back, Aunt Monica was home and had set up some halloween games in the warehouse for the kids to play, that she made. They were adorable games. Too bad the warehouse was literally about 40 degrees. I was so cold I couldn't stand to play the games with the kids (I forgot my winter coat at my parents house) but the kids loved playing for as long as they could tolerate it.

Then Aunt Monica let the kids make gingerbread cookies and she even let them eat as much dough as they wanted. They LOVE Aunt Monica!

They took most cookies home but a few of them, they put holes in the top of the cookies, put ribbon through them, and hung them on the Christmas tree.

We headed home the next morning. It was a snowy drive and we did get stuck in nasty traffic on the way home but we made it finally. It was a great time in Idaho though! We love Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Monica and Uncle JB!